So, Santa Claus? No, Saint Nicholas!
by EssieScrawls
Summary: Arthur and Merlin celebrate the Dutch feast, Saint Nicholas, with their two children.


It's December fifth, a day many children loved in the Netherlands.

When Merlin and Arthur moved there because of Arthur's work some six years ago, together with their two year old and eight month old baby, they didn't understand a thing about this whole celebration.

 _"_ _So, it's just like Santa Claus?"_ They would ask the Dutch people and they pfft'd at them before going into great detail that Santa Claus was actually based on the Dutch Saint Nicholas or _Sinterklaas_ as he was called in Dutch. Arthur had raised an eyebrow at it at first and didn't really celebrate the feast… that was until their small children got a sense of what the feast entailed and _demanded_ they would celebrate it too. Well, his youngest, Arthur Junior - AJ, didn't had a clue really, but he did know that children would get presents and that was all that mattered to him.

It started when their daughter, Aviva, came back from preschool and excitingly telling her parents that she had to put her shoe by the fireplace filled with some sugar cubes and perhaps a carrot for Saint Nicholas' horse, Amerigo. Arthur had honestly no idea what his daughter was talking about. Okay, they might've been in The Netherlands for four years now, but never caught up with the whole December fifth celebrations. But now? Now they had too. They couldn't let their little daughter down, now could they?

So, Merlin got online and searched as much information as possible about the Saint Nicholas feast. Apparently their child had to put their shoe at the fireplace (or the central heating when you didn't had a fireplace) and in their shoe should be some sugar cubes, a carrot and a list of things they wanted from Saint Nicholas. In return, Saint Nicholas or his helpers, the Petes, put a chocolate letter of the child's first initial in their shoe and some small present. The rest of the bigger presents would come later that evening as there was no way it would fit in the shoe.

Merlin and Arthur had looked at each other and pretty much scratched their heads. What a weird tradition! But anything to bring a smile on their little girl's face.

For reference they first went to their neighbours to ask for some clarification and when they got some help and instructions from them they went out to the shops a few days before December fifth. They bought two chocolate "A" letters, some small presents and then some bigger presents. Put all the bigger presents in a burlap sack and hid that in a closet.

Just before Aviva and AJ went to bed on December fourth they would dutifully put their shoes by the fireplace and put some sugar cubes and a carrot in it, together with their letter to the Saint. Although with AJ it was more scribbled lines than anything else. He just copied what his big sister did.

As soon as they were fast asleep, Arthur and Merlin swapped the goods for the chocolate letter and a small present; a Playmobile Princess for Aviva and a Knight for AJ.

The next morning Aviva squealed when she saw that she had indeed got a present, just like her classmates had told her. Her brother however still had no clue what was going on, but was all the more happy that he got a present.

Merlin and Arthur smiled brightly at the sight in front of them. Maybe this whole tradition wasn't so bad.

That night they produced the big burlap sack filled to the top with presents, telling their children that they had found it in the closet and that the Pete must've left it there. Aviva was jumping up and down with joy and her brother soon joined her.

That was now four years ago, and Merlin and Arthur got better and better each year. They even managed to get the help of the grandparents. Never had Merlin imagined that Uther of all people would get on board with the craziness, but miracles _do_ happen.

Like now he had to press his lips together as Uther walked in, dressed up as Saint Nicholas, complete with long white beard, the robe, mitre and the golden staff. Behind him were his mother and Ygraine dressed up as black Petes and holding a big burlap sack with presents and giving their grandchildren the famous _pepernoten_ and marzipan.

The kids had no clue that they were their grandmothers. They were just too excited for the presents and the candy.

But by now both children knew they had to get on Saint Nicholas' lap first to see if they had deserved the presents.

Uther sat down on a chair and held his hands out to AJ, who quickly got onto his lap. Uther asked him if he'd been a good boy this year and the little boy nodded truthfully. Uther smiled down at him and told him to get a present from one of the Petes.

Next up was his eldest granddaughter and when she sat on his lap, he asked, "So, Aviva, have you been a good girl this year?"

The girl nodded her head, but did look guiltily towards her parents.

Uther hmm'ed. "Are you really sure? Hm, let me see the book. Pete?"

Ygraine held the red book out to her husband with and he opened it. "Hmm, yes, you have been a very good girl indeed. But wait, what do I read here? You haven't eaten all your vegetables?"

"But I don't like them!" Aviva cried.

"Hmmm, you know what. If you promise me you'll eat all your vegetables from now on, you can get a present at one of the Petes. What do you say?"

Aviva nodded heavily. "I will!"

"You know I will know if you lie, right?" Uther said, just to tease the little girl a little more. "See, it'll all be written in this book."

"I promise. I will eat them."

"Okay, that's a good girl then. Now, go on a pick a present."

The girl was off Uther's lap before he could even finish his sentence. He looked up to Merlin and Arthur who mouthed a _thank you_ to him. They had been trying time and time again to get their daughter to eat her veggies, but every meal was a struggle. Now, now they had some hope they would succeed.

 **THE END**

* * *

 **So this was just a small fanfic about the Saint Nicholas ( _Sinterklaas_ ) celebration we have on December fifth here in The Netherlands. So yes, we get double presents in the month of December. First with Saint Nicholas and then again with Christmas. Aren't we lucky ;)**

 **And the thing with the vegetables actually happened to me when I was younger haha. It did work though! Since "Saint Nicholas" told me, I ate all my veggies.**

 **I know there is a lot of talk about the racism issue about Black Pete, but please don't put that in the comments because that's not the place nor the time for it.**


End file.
